The boundary of a local church is one of the basic principles upon which the practice of the Lord’s recovery is based. From the beginnings of the Lord’s recovery in China, it has been our practice to have one church with one eldership in a city. In 1934, after...
Teaching and Fellowship
The Elders Avoiding Entanglement in Right and Wrong
The elders in a local church must deal with all kinds of issues, including complicated situations involving the saints. A great temptation the elders face is getting entangled in determinations of right and wrong in disputes between saints. The proper function of the elders is to shepherd all the...
Serious Errors Concerning the Fellowship of the Co-workers
Recently, a former co-worker accused the North American co-workers of drifting toward organization and hierarchy by allegedly giving serious consideration to centralizing ownership of the local churches’ meeting halls. This is a gross misrepresentation of what actually happened in a North American co-workers’ fellowship. Moreover, in spreading his false...
Receiving All Believers but Not Different Teachings
Concerning the practice of the church, certain basic principles need to be understood and kept in balance. Fundamentally, the church, as the unique Body of Christ, is one universally and includes every believer irrespective of time and space. Practically, this one universal Body of Christ is manifested in time...
Defense & Confirmation Project (DCP)
The Defense & Confirmation Project (DCP) was established to “defend and confirm the New Testament ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee and the practice of the local churches.” This mission statement is based on Paul’s words in Philippians 1. In verse 7 he commended the Philippians, saying that...
Assailing the Ground of Oneness (7): The Identifying Characteristics of a Genuine Local Church and the Forbidden Grounds of Division according to the Scriptures
The New Testament presents the church as universally one in its existence and locally one in its manifestation (Eph. 1:22-23; Acts 13:1). Yet Christians today are divided among a plethora of denominations and local sects. Underlying these divisions are innumerable grounds advanced to justify their existence and separation from...
Quenching the Flaming Darts of the Enemy
If we want to be those who are practically part of God’s corporate warrior in Ephesians 6, we must learn how to quench the flaming darts of the enemy. Verse 16 speaks of “having taken up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all...
Properly Representing the Lord in the Exercise of Discipline
From time to time those who bear responsibility in the administration of a church must exercise a measure of discipline toward unruly members. The exercise of discipline takes as its goals restoring the erring members and protecting both the Lord’s testimony and the members of His Body. As with...
Authority and Fellowship
God desires to establish His kingdom on the earth through a group of people who stand against all forms of rebellion and come absolutely under His authority. Establishing God’s authority over the earth is a great matter in the Bible, but fallen men have miscast divine authority according to...
Obsession and Subjectivity
Obsession In the 1930s Brother Watchman Nee gave a word concerning “Obsession and God’s Light” (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee , Vol. 36: Central Messages, 257-271). His speaking should help us discern dissenting speakings directed at the Lord’s recovery in general and at the leadership in His recovery...